Romanian music and dance in Jersey - 2 December 2018

Ramona Ciceoan

Unknown Sax player and group with dancing

Dragos and Dana Patrascu - dance

Public solidarity with the strikers - But why?

Civil Servants "strike" Liberation Square, St Helier, Jersey  7 December 2018


There is no doubt that many States’ civil servants and public employees have been treated very badly.

That they have been left behind and neglected so far as wages and conditions of employment are concerned is evident.

On that basis they deserve general public support and they have been forced into a strike by a particularly uncaring management otherwise known as “our government.”

To rub salt into their wounds, the recently appointed CEO Charlie Parker has proudly announced that’s “It’s my way or the highway” and proposes to reduce the workforce by many hundreds as the continuation of a policy that has been in place for some years already.

 

BUT not all civil servants are angels.

Bullying and harassment has been a feature within many States departments for years and Charlie’s micromanaging “do as I say” ultimatum might seem to be ideally suited to that.

As I write this, Deputy Mike Higgins is speaking on the radio about the many senior managers in the civil service who have been devious, unduly authoritative, even lying in court and how some have been “defaming the public.” He claims to speak on the basis of personal knowledge

 

Only this week the Jersey Complaints Board has published its findings re Mr. B. Huda and the “unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory” treatment that he received at the hands of Health and Social Services staff.

 

His case is not unique.

 

Mr Barrette’s timber windows saga with “bullying Planning Officers” was deemed to be “oppressive and improperly discriminatory” too by a Complaints Board and he has received no compensation.

 

The Royal Court has also this week decided the amount of damages to be paid re “Family X” – one of the largest personal injury claims in British legal history - where the children were subjected to a catalogue of abuse in their home “years after it should have been obvious that they needed to be removed.”

 

Yet, this case needs to be considered in the context of the “Jersey Independent Care Inquiry” which reported 18 months ago on decades of abuse of hundreds children in care and the criminal, negligent, inadequate or otherwise defective behaviour of far too many adults employed, supposedly, in positions of trust to safeguard them.

 

When civil servants are being abusive or bullying in the workplace to each other that is bad enough and it has been researched and reported upon in the “HR Lounge Report” published (in secret initially) this year. This Report says that employees have been left “feeling like lepers about making allegations or complaints” and how “there is a culture of fear” and also of too much “gossiping.”

 

But what of the treatment of the general public who have to deal with these civil servants?

If bullying is so commonplace in schools, for example, how might bullied children or their parents expect to be treated if they complain?

Or, how might claimants at the Social Security department be enabled to ensure that they are treated fairly and with consistency and shall staff ever “blow the whistle” on their own colleagues whose behaviour towards the general public is not appropriate?

 

If civil servants are not prepared to blow the whistle to protect each other – what chance that they might take any action in support of a member of the public?

 

The establishment of a “whistle-blower hotline” has been proposed for the use of bullied or abused staff in their workplaces, but it does not seem to be intended to protect the public too or even to be accessible to them.

 

Of course, some staff are abused by the public but the proliferation of “our staff are entitled to respect” notices are themselves often intimidating and hardly likely to encourage a friendly dialogue when differences of opinion or lack of understanding feature.

 

I could list many instances of failings in the services provided by civil servants and the antagonisms that arise with the public. Some have reached the “official complaints” stage as already referred to and have been found to be valid.

Some complaints are not valid.

 

Civil servants often claim to provide an excellent service in difficult circumstances which may  be true – but it s not always so.

There is reluctance in the service to be supportive of the public. When things go wrong the public employees invariably defend “the system” and their colleagues.

 

This current “strike” by civil servants is seen as justified by many members of the general public.

But that support needs to be reciprocal.

Civil servants and other public employees must be encouraged to promote the rights and best interests of the public as well as their own.

 

Oppressive management or government is a common enemy and needs to be recognized for what it is.

 

 

Andy Remus talk to Jersey Architects - 9 November 2018

This Andy Remus talk describes the work of his  ar design studio of architects in Winchester, Hampshire.

It appears below in 3 parts and totals about 57 minutes.
It is not edited but there is a break of a few minutes after part 2.

Part 1 - 30 minutes

Part 2 - 90 seconds

Part 3 - 25 minutes

Jersey Farming Conference 2018 - Ministers John Young and Lyndon Farnham

I am not sure that government has much relevance to Jersey farming.
It's a diminishing economic activity which occupies a very large part of Jersey land and of course government and admin is being reformed under the CEO Charlie Parker's grand plan.

But here are two Ministers in the current Jersey "government" speaking at the farming conference.

Senator Farnham "Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture" appears first;

Next its Deputy John Young - billed on the programme as "Minister for the Environment" but that changes daily it seems in accordance with Charlie's plan so he is more certainly "Minister for Planning" I think;

The video starts a bit confused because John Young spoke from the floor and not the rostrum provided....

See you all again next year - perhaps Charlie will talk then....

Interview with Colin Powell and Roy Le Herissier - Jersey October 2018

This interview and discussion continues with the theme of previous postings and considers, among many things, whether Cyril Le Marquand deserves to be remembered with a public monument...
whether the Report of the Independent Care Inquiry is being adequately implemented...
why it is proving so difficult to reform the "Jersey Way"...
and whether Jersey can afford to preserve a "green countryside" or if the land is too valuable to use for farming...and more.

The video is about 33 minutes

Who deserves to be remembered?

This is the time of year when Jersey's memorials - mostly to those who died in war - receive a deal of public attention.

But how is it decided which events or individuals should be "remembered" at all in public places?

As I keep posting here, the events of 28 September 1769 - Jersey Reform Day and all that - have no plaque, statue or street name although it is supposedly an "official" date in the Jersey calendar.
The Piratical Bailiff George de Carteret has a statue and pub in St Peter whilst war-time Bailiff Lord Coutanche warrants a small bronze bust that serves as a resting place for pigeons in the Royal Square and he can oversee the Peirson pub,  the statue of King George II and the "V" sign in the square..

But what of more recent heroes or people of "significance"?

Cyril Le Marquand "the founder of the Jersey finance sector" is currently remembered with a Soviet style inscription on the States office building opposite the Cenotaph. But this building is planned to be demolished soon. Shall Cyril have a replacement statue erected in his honour? Would he want one?

He was a "political leader" of course and founder of the Progressive Party after the Occupation and was elected with 10 others of that party to the States in 1948.

On the other hand Norman Le Brocq,  was also elected to the States and founded a political party of the left in opposition to Cyril's after the Occupation.
Norman  has no memorial on land that I know of and once  described the "finance sector as a "parasitic activity."
But does he deserve a memorial now?

Jersey cows have their own bronze memorial in St Helier and various other sculptures are scattered about the Island and Geraint Jennings has described the history of some of these in the past.

Most places have their military heroes mounted on horses cast in bronze and Jersey has produced plenty of warriors - but is the whole memorial thing just an historic dinosaur now in the 21st century?

I am not proposing to answer my own questions but attach this interview link with Cyril Le Marquand which is interesting in the context of Jersey politics and government today. Whether it or he or his views are relevant today are matters to be considered elsewhere.

https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Cyril_Le_Marquand_interview

BUSKERS in Jersey

BUSKERS are usually anonymous but there have in the past been several well known street performers in Jersey.

They have often had a difficult relationship with the authorities and sometimes the public.

“Tommy” Bagwell the blind barrel organ player was granted a licence in 1907 by the Constable to play in the streets of St Helier.

Jersey born “Tommy” had been blinded whilst working on the quay so his work-mates had subscribed to provide the instrument and he became a popular sight and sound around the Town.

In fact he became something of an entertainer and raised funds for charitable events such as the “picnic for the blind” in 1909.

In 1917 he suffered serious injuries when a horse bolted in Mulcaster Street and collided with him and the organ and he spent some time in hospital. He died in 1936 aged 81.

 

He was not Jersey’s only blind organ player. There were complaints in 1888 of such a player who “perambulated” the streets of St. Helier accompanied by a little girl “eliciting alms from passers-by” and he had no permit.

This was probably Anthanese Marcourf (?) who was already “an old familiar face” in the “Court of Corrective Police” in 1884 and was well known in Guernsey too. He was usually charged with vagrancy and begging in the streets “without visible means of support.”

Typically he was fined 10 shillings or 2 days in prison.

 

Two Italian organ-grinders had been “found begging” in 1879 and had insulted people who refused to contribute. They duly appeared before the court to be fined the usual amount but presumably they would have been deported too.

 

In April 1857 it was reported that 3 barrel organs were playing such tunes as “Home Sweet Home” and “Cherry Ripe” to an appreciative crowd outside 21 Hue Street but the nature of the occasion was not clear.

Coincidentally or otherwise 3 barrel organs were offered for sale at auction the same year but there was a wedding reception in Hilgrove Street in 1862 and a barrel organ was stationed at the doorway “to crown the day at the home of the happy pair.”

However, it was not a Jersey person turning the handle but “a grinning Italian who owned the instrument of torture…”

 

Cesidio Volante was another Italian musician who arrived in the 1880s and was not deported although his career started with the usual difficulties. Thus he appeared before the Magistrate for playing “in the streets of St. Helier without the necessary permission” in February 1888.

 

It must have been a very fragile way to make a living because the Viscount had been ordered in 1883 to dispose of the property of Antonioni Qazy the “peripatetic organ grinder” who had died without next of kin and he was also instructed to pay for the burial.

But Cesidio, more usually known as Joseph, somehow survived and founded a Volante dynasty which thrives in Jersey. When he died aged 61 at his Castle Street home in 1923 after a long illness the JEP obituary described him as “the Italian organ grinder, a popular and well known figure in this town.”

It continued “there is an old saying that it’s the poor that help the poor” and how he lent the organ during the Great War “to swell various charities.”

His Italian born widow Ann re-married and died in 1968.

 

There were visits from German bands and other musicians and entertainers trying to make a living throughout the century so it was inevitable that the authorities would try to exercise more control. They also saw it as a tax raising opportunity.

 

By 1899 it was being proposed that every show man, acrobat, player, accordionist or street musician or other performer should pay 1 shilling per week for a licence. Thus a German band consisting of 9 musicians would have to pay 9 shillings. But the proposal, designed to contribute to the £800 p.a. granted by the States was viewed as “humiliating, mean and unworthy of a legislative assembly” by critics.

The Constable of St Helier was reported ;

“It is absurd that the owner of a performing bear or an organ-grinder must pay to the Bailiff and every member of a German Band who would play the National anthem in the streets…”

 

And so the discussion continues into the 21^st century and there is not a barrel-organ to be seen or heard on the streets of Jersey today….